Where fit matters most in a dress shirt
Three areas define the fit of a dress shirt: the collar, the shoulders and chest, and the cuff.
The collar must sit snugly against the neck — not strangling, not loose. When buttoned, you should be able to slide two fingers between the collar and your neck: no more, no less. A collar that gaps away from the neck is uncomfortable to look at and uncomfortable to be in; a collar that chokes is equally bad. Getting the collar right requires a neck measurement that is taken properly and a collar pattern cut to that measurement — something that requires a bespoke shirt rather than a standard-size one.
The shoulder seam must sit at the end of your shoulder — precisely. A shirt with shoulder seams that fall off the shoulder looks sloppy regardless of how well everything else fits. The chest must have enough room to button without pulling at the placket across the fullest point, but not so much room that the shirt billows. These measurements interact — a fuller chest may require a wider shirt body that then needs to be taken in at the waist. A bespoke pattern accounts for all of this from the start.
The cuff should fall at the wrist bone — where the sleeve meets the hand — and allow a quarter to a half inch of cuff to emerge from the jacket sleeve. This requires a sleeve length that is yours specifically, not a size medium's average.
The cloth — what makes a shirt fabric worth buying
We carry bespoke shirting cloths from Thomas Mason, Alumo and David & John Anderson — three of the world's finest shirtmakers, each with a centuries-old tradition of weaving fine cotton cloth in England and Switzerland.
Thomas Mason has been weaving shirting cloth in Lancashire since the eighteenth century. Their poplin, twill, and Oxford cloths are benchmarks of what shirt fabric should feel like — smooth, firmly woven, soft against the skin after washing, and able to hold a pressed line that remains crisp through a full day of wear. A Thomas Mason shirt cloth in a 100/2 two-ply poplin is among the finest everyday business shirt fabrics available.
Alumo is a Swiss mill that produces some of the finest luxury shirting in the world — their Sea Island cotton, Giza cotton and finest Swiss voile shirtings are reserved for the ultimate in dress shirts. A shirt in Alumo's Sea Island range is remarkable in its hand: cool, smooth, luminous, and unlike anything in the ready-to-wear market.
At the consultation, we will show you the range of cloths across the full spectrum of price and weight, explain what each is best suited for, and let you handle them. Most clients end up with more than one cloth when they see the range.
Collar styles — the choice that defines the shirt
The collar is the most visible element of a shirt and the one that most significantly changes its character. At The Black Lapel, every collar style is made to your neck measurement and sewn at the collar band to ensure the stand height and the collar opening sit correctly on your neck.
The spread collar — two collar points that spread wide apart — is the most common choice for business dress. It accommodates a full tie knot well (Windsor, half-Windsor, or Pratt) and works well open-collar when the tie is removed. It is the collar of the contemporary professional world.
The cutaway collar takes the spread further — the points are nearly horizontal, opening a very wide spread that shows the tie knot clearly and looks particularly good on a full Windsor. It has a bold, modern character.
The point collar — narrow, with points that nearly touch when worn — is a more traditional and slightly more formal choice, associated with conservative professional dress and with the narrow knot of a four-in-hand or Pratt tie.
The tab collar has a small tab that connects the two collar points under the knot, lifting the tie and creating a distinctive formality. It requires a collar bar or is stitched in a cloth tab — either way it is a considered choice with a period character.
The button-down collar — with buttons that secure the points to the shirt body — is the most casual of the formal collar styles, associated with American Brooks Brothers and Oxford cloth shirts. Appropriate for smart-casual occasions; slightly unusual in very formal business contexts.